When Disney bought Fox, some fans were worried that it would mean the Deadpool franchise would be discontinued or knocked down to a PG-13 rating. Then-CEO Bob Iger assured fans that the company intended to keep the Deadpool films R-rated, however.
It was finally put to rest when development on the threequel finally began and confirmed (again) that the film would be R-rated. However, it made fans wonder if Marvel Studios would explore this rating for its backlog of violence-adjacent heroes and villains.
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn finished filming two projects, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, both of which have been advertised as being hardcore R-Rated.
Now, Gunn has given his own thoughts in this MCU matter, having his foot in both worlds, about whether Marvel Studios will explore R-rated films.
GUNN CONFIDENT MARVEL WILL PRODUCE R-RATED FILMS
In an interview, IndieWire asked James Gunn whether he believed Marvel Studios would produce an R-rated film, with Gunn confident that the studio would.
He said “I think they will, I think they will, I’m almost sure they will” but was adamant that Guardians of the Galaxy would never become an R-rated franchise:
“Not ‘Guardians’ though, because ‘Guardians’ are family movies, so it’s different. People are like, ‘Finally, they let you do R rating. What would “Guardians” be like if that was R rated?’ I’m like, ‘But it’s not.'”
Although, Gunn then described one possible idea for an R-Rated film in the franchise about Drax the Destroyer, saying “I could go off and make a Drax movie that’s R-rated, that I would love to do, like barbarian Drax.”
However, Gunn was quick to dismiss this possibility, too, describing the Guardians of the Galaxy films as "fables" and that he doesn't think about them that way:
“But the ‘Guardians’ movies are fables, and I don’t think of them like that. I don’t write them like that. It’s a different type of movie, and you can have some gore and some scary darkness in there and things like that, which is good, but it’s not the rock and roll of ‘Suicide Squad.'”
WHAT ELSE BESIDES DEADPOOL?
It's already been confirmed by Marvel Studios that Deadpool 3 would remain RrRated like its two predecessors, but what about beyond that franchise? Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige shot down the idea of Blade being R-rated, so what else is there?
Reportedly, in February, Feige said that Marvel Studios currently had no plans to explore R-ratings for the MCU aside from Deadpool 3. They would only discuss using the rating if a story came along that justified it and made sense.
The only other potential franchises that could and would justify using the rating are Ghost Rider and Punisher. This is especially practical considering the latter, whose entire core concept is brutally murdering criminals.
Deadpool 3 is currently in production at Marvel Studios.
